God save the queens

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An Ulster “hard man” is revealed as a drag queen, so here are history’s other great cross dressers

EVER SINCE SAMSON’S TIME, the cross-dressing light revue community has had to struggle hard in a macho and vindictive world. Samson, the last of the 12 judges in the Old Testament Book of Judges, had his collection of stage wigs stolen by Delilah and pulled down the theatre in protest. In honour of Samson, British judges have upheld the tradition of female impersonation ever since.

The case of Sammy Duddy, the Ulster Defence Association hard man whose stage act as drag queen Samantha has just been revealed, shows how hard these lost souls try to compensate for their past.